PENNSYLVANIA (WHTM) — On Monday, Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Sharif Street issued a statement regarding the violent arrest and killing of Tire Nichols.
A video showing the violent arrest of Nichols has been released by Memphis officials. Nichols died three days after police beat him at a traffic stop on January 7.
You can read the statement from Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Sharif Street below:
“Tyre Nichols’ life was important and it is tragic to die at the hands of those responsible for protecting and caring for her. My condolences to his family who lost a father and son prematurely. People want to feel safe, and it is our constitutional mandate as a government to make that happen.
There must be accountability for Tire’s death, and it is encouraging that federal, state and local officials have acted quickly to bring his killers to justice. But accountability is only one measure of justice.
Since the killing of George Floyd, there has been a national effort to overhaul public safety and reform the police and our criminal justice system. We must continue to work to make policing and the criminal justice system equal for all, and first pass federal protections through the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and ensure that the standards of policing our communities deserve are reflected in state laws is expressed.
After Floyd’s death, the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed two major police reform bills that failed to gain traction in the PA House. My bill banning the use of chokeholds in an officer’s effort to apprehend a person, and requiring every Pennsylvania police department to adopt a use-of-force policy, publicize that policy, and train their officers to that standard , should be approved by the General Assembly.
Senator Costa’s bill, which would require all police departments to keep incident use records detailing the event, including the reason for the use of force, details of injuries sustained, and property damage or death, must also be adopted.
Senator Hughes also introduced a similar policy – 8 Can’t Wait – proposals that would create a more explicit and equitable standard for the use of force by police. Pennsylvania is on the road to sweeping police reform. We must reform the standards under which violence is used and the extent to which it is used. This must be done to improve the bond of trust between our community and law enforcement, which is essential to keeping communities safe.
While our hearts and prayers go out to Tire’s family and community, we must also take concrete steps to ensure this type of senseless tragedy does not happen again. That is why the above legislation is so important and our fight must go on.”